The song, after which Yizhar Ashdot’s new album is named, describes what he thinks about IDF operations against Arabs in the occupied Territories. Words were written by his partner, Alona Kemchi. “Only we, the earth of Israel, can learn this cruelty as a matter of habit.”

Matter of habit

Words: Alona Kimchi
Music: Izhar Ashdot

Learn to killIt’s a matter of leverageStarted smallAnd then it came

Patrolling all nightCasbah in NablusHey, what’s ourWhat your

At first just an exerciseButt banging on the doorChildren stunnedFamily terrified

Then – closureThis has been a dangerDeath waitsBehind every corner

Cocks his weaponTrembling armStiff fingerAttached to the trigger

Wild heartBeats scaredHe knows – in the futureIt will be easier

They are not a man, not a woman,They only object, only a shadowLearn to killIt’s a matter of habit

Learn to fearIt’s a matter of leverageStarting smallAnd then it came

Top newsDown the streetThere’s no way to live onSo close to the end

Prophecies horrorQuacking RavensTgifo BlindsCloseted homes

We are only a handfulAnd so manyA tiny countryConsumed by enemies

Only hatred in their heartsApple has created badLearn to fearIt’s a matter of habit

Learn crueltyIt’s a matter of leverageIt started smallAnd then it came

Every child is a manHungry VictoriesHands rearLegged

This time of dangerInjury timeAnnealed soldierNo Charm Compassion

Son David as a livingYou’re used to seeing bloodDoes not feel the sufferingIs a person

Céline was a complicated figure; described himself as a “national communist”…

A small Quebec publisher’s imminent publication of the collected pamphlets of French writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, whose virulently antisemitic works are banned in France, is causing a stir in that country.

Les Editions Huit, based in Quebec City, plans to release Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Ecrits polemiques this month. The 1,040-page compilation includes some 300 pages of criticism by Régis Tettamanzi, a professor at the Université de Nantes in France, who wrote his doctoral thesis on Céline’s pamphlets […]

Last year, the French government refused to include Céline among the 500 Icons of French Culture because of his antisemitic writings […]

There is a Quebec connection to Céline. Jean-François Nadeau recalled in his 2010 book Adrien Arcand, führer canadien that the author met with the fascist leader in Montreal in 1938 and attended one of the party’s meetings.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the IDF to explore the possible purchase of a Greek island where a naval training base could be set up. The island could also serve as a port for Israeli vessels and submarines, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.

Barak’s bureau said in response, “The minister had asked that the matter be reviewed and it was later determined that there was no need for it (the island). The matter is closed.”

Greece is currently experiencing a deep financial crisis. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said last month that his country is considering selling or leasing several uninhabited islands “so long it poses no security threat.”

During a visit to Israel in January, when Foreign Minister John Baird met with the head of Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, he was prepped to discuss at length the “threat” of Iran, documents have revealed.

Briefing notes prepared for Mr. Baird and released under access to information legislation show that during the meeting between Mr. Baird and Mossad director Tamir Pardo, the foreign minister was prepped with statements such as, “[Iran’s] nuclear activities are very worrying, posing a threat to the security of Israel, but they could also lead others in the region to pursue similar activities.” […]

The briefing notes also show that Mr. Baird was prepped to talk about Iran with at least a half-dozen other top Israeli officials and experts, including: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Israel’s foreign, defence, and intelligence ministers; a former Mossad director; and a former head of military intelligence […]

…observers see the meetings, and especially Mr. Baird’s meeting with Mr. Pardo, as proof of the degree to which the Harper government has aligned itself with Israel—and the extent to which the Netanyahu government encourages that alignment by offering up its most senior officials for meetings […]

“You will be meeting Mossad Director Tamir Pardo at Mossad headquarters in Herzliya at 19:00 on Tuesday, January 31. Mr. Pardo will provide you with an intelligence briefing on a range of regional issues,” Mr. Baird’s briefing notes read. “This will be an excellent opportunity to [censored].”

The document preps the minister with a list of “key messages” and “questions.” One of them is that “Canada strongly supports Israel’s right to defend itself and live in peace with its neighbours, within secure boundaries.” Another is that “Canada is profoundly concerned by the threat Iran poses to regional and global security.”

It continues: “its nuclear activities are very worrying, posing a threat to the security of Israel, but they could also lead others in the region to pursue similar activities…it is also continuing to play a destabilizing role in the region, with respect to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon in particular.”

Six other points that Baird was prepped to bring up were also censored from the document before it was released to Embassy. […]

Observers say the meetings show the extent to which Canada is sidling up to Israel and taking the Israeli perspective on foreign affairs.

Lal Salam (Urdu: لال سلام, Hindi: लाल सलाम, Bengali: লাল সলাম, meaning ‘Red Salute’) is a salute, greeting or code word used by communists in Pakistan, India and Nepal, which is used when both hello and goodbye would be used in English.

In Hindi and Urdu (as well as in several other South Asian languages) Lal means red, the color of communism, and Salam is an Arabic/Persian loanword in use in India and Pakistan. In Arabic it literally means ‘Peace’, but this usage is in line with the Persian usage, with the meaning ‘Salute’.

This greeting is common among all communist parties in India, such as CPIM and CPI. Naxals often use this phrase, e.g. on recruitment posters.

In Pakistan, the equivalent phrase “Surkh Salam” (Urdu: سرخ سلام) is used interchangeably.

The tribute arranged by comrades after the death of a Naxalite is also called the “Lal Salam”.